Lhr-sin-dps

[Kiwi Flyer]

In your example, LAN will have endorsed the ticket to QF and NZ (I was not aware NZ had F class trans-Tasman) and hence those airlines collect the fare revenue via the IATA clearing house.

I don't know whether NZ had F trans-tasman in years gone by. I do know more recently that you could get F seat (and business service) trans-tasman on the 747 flights. With the refit now almost complete (last one is being done now I think) that is no longer possible.

 

[alect]

While many times the airlines will assist displaced passengers, especially those travelling in business or first class, when travelling on a restricted ticket there is no guarantee they will move the passenger onto an airline that for which that ticket is not valid.

In your example, LAN will have endorsed the ticket to QF and NZ (I was not aware NZ had F class trans-Tasman) and hence those airlines collect the fare revenue via the IATA clearing house.

On a LONE4 fare, the ticket is only valid for carriage on OneWorld airlines. There would be no problem at all with the displaced passenger being moved to any OneWorld carrier to get them to their destination. That carrier would obtain the revenue via the usual fare distribution through the clearing house. However, a non-OneWorld airline is not going to accept the LONE4 ticket coupon since they have no way of getting the revenue since the coupon is clearly marked as only valid for carriage on OneWorld airlines. So the OneWorld airline responsible this sector carriage has a choice to either delay the passenger until the next available OneWorld flight (may be several days in the example given) or to agree to pay the carrying airline and effectively purchasing a ticket for the passenger.

Given the small amount of revenue that QF would be earning on a LONE4 ticket for SIN-DPS flight (its considered an intra-continental flight, and the lion's share of the fare revenue goes to the inter-continental services), they may be reluctant to lose money by paying another airline to carry their passenger.

As an example, a LLONE4 fare costs around A$3000. In a typical ATW itinerary, the SIN-DPS flight of 1037 miles may be around 2.5% of the flown mileage and if the fare is apportioned to the carrying airlines by mileage, that would mean a revenue of around $75 for that sector. Not a great incentive for the ticketed airline to go out of their way to assist unless the passenger was a high status FF member. Note the cheapest published SQ fare on that route is A$216 (YOWA) though it can be expected QF may be required to be less than published fares and will depend on availability.

So with the OP being on a LONE4 fare, the segment in question being a very low revenue proportion of the fare, the ticket specifically excluding the ability to endorse to non-OneWorld carriers, and the route only being operated 3 times a week by any OneWorld airline, I would not be surprised if a misconnect means some unscheduled sightseeing in SIN.

I am not saying QF would not pay to move the passenger over to SQ or GA for this sector. I am say that such assistance is not a right nor guaranteed and that this specific example includes few options due to the lack of OneWorld options available.

The situation is quite a bit different from a D fare SYD-AKL-SYD where the airline can endorse the ticket and hence fare revenue to another airline with little or no cost implication to themselves.

NM this all makes perfect sense, and I am in no doubt that anything an airline does for one in such a situation is goodwill. Given that the decision is probably made by either the check in agent or the station manager, and we all know how little most reservations agents know about xONEx fares, let alone airport based staff, I doubt that the calculations you have outlined would be in their minds. Do they even see the fare basis/code before you get there with your ticket - they will not the fare bucket you are booked in, but do they also see the ticket details, especially if issued by another airline. Ofcourse this would explain why a D/A booked pax would get looked after and an L pax will not.

 

[NM]

Do they even see the fare basis/code before you get there with your ticket - they will not the fare bucket you are booked in, but do they also see the ticket details, especially if issued by another airline. Ofcourse this would explain why a D/A booked pax would get looked after and an L pax will not.

Yes, they certainly do see the fare basis, and any restrictions such as "VALID ONLY ON AA/AY/BA/CX/EI/IB/LA/QF/LP". In this very situation last month, an AA agent was unable to re-route my DONE4 fare using CI since the fare rules would not permit it and I would have to wait for the next OneWorld option to get me to my next destination. In fact, the next OneWorld flight was already oversold in all classes, so I had to wait for the following flight before she could get me a seat.

Changing you to a non-permitted airline will require some form of rule override and won't happen unless someone authorises payment to go the carrying airline. And that is generally going to require more authority than a check-in agent is permitted (supervisor, station manager etc).

Changing to another airline that is permitted by the fare rules means it now just comes down to availability in a suitable class. Then the carrying airline will receive revenue via the IATA fares clearing house.

 

[Alan in CBR]

Re: OT: Common routing

Hardly strange at all ... quite normal for many posters on this (and similar) forums.

Well, that's true I guess.

I've just been bombarded by too many , :shock: or faces from "normal" people when I tell them I deliberately routed LHR-IAD via LAX.